Charity campaigner Fr Peter McVerry has warned of a "tsunami of homelessness" that is threatening to wash over Ireland in the coming years.

Fr McVerry, who founded The Peter McVerry Trust to battle homelessness in this country, said his charity is struggling to cope with the problem in Dublin.

He said they have even had to turn people away at the doors because of a lack of resources or facilities to deal with the homeless and warned that the problem could weigh down the Government in the upcoming elections.

Speaking on the RTE Radio One programme Sunday with Miriam O'Callaghan, Fr McVerry said: "In all the years I have been working with homeless people, it has never been so bad.

"We are, I would say, beyond crisis at this stage."

"There are six new people becoming homeless every day and that's the official figures.

"It may be more than that.

"There are also 40,000 buy-to-let mortgages in arrears.

"There is a dam at the end of the river and this torrent of water is coming down and there's no way out.

"Ultimately, because of the changing nature of homelessness, these are ordinary people who will vote and their families will vote.

"I think this whole issue of housing and homelessness could bring this Government down."

Fr McVerry, who has been fighting against homelessness for the last 40 years, said many "ordinary" people who would not normally face the spectre of homelessness could find themselves and their families losing their homes through repossession.

He said that the previous routes of social housing and private rented accommodation had been closed off.

And he called on the Government to buy 1,500 houses and apartments to stave off the crisis. Fr McVerry said that this would be far more effective than temporary resolutions such as paying for hostels and shelters.